Pentagon chief in Europe to drum up anti-IS support

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in Europe on Tuesday ahead of a summit to convince key members of a US-led coalition to expand their roles in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Carter has in recent weeks chastised partners in the 65-nation alliance for not helping enough in the fight against the extremists, who despite suffering some significant setbacks remain firmly in control of large parts of Iraq and Syria and have a growing foothold in Libya.

"I don't think anybody is satisfied with the pace (of the campaign), that is why we are all looking to accelerate it," Carter told reporters as he flew to Brussels.

"My instructions are very clear from my president. He wants to get this done."

In all, 27 coalition members who have contributed militarily to the 18-month fight will join Carter's delegation for talks in Brussels on Thursday. Another 21 coalition countries are attending as observers.

Defence ministers from several Western nations such as Australia, Britain and France will attend, as well as Saudi Arabia -- a key Sunni ally that joined the coalition in late 2014.

Though Riyadh initially carried out air strikes against IS jihadists in Syria, its participation and that of other Gulf coalition members dropped as they shifted focus to conflict-torn Yemen.

"I really hope they make a strong contribution because I think they have a strong stake in making sure that extremism doesn't run rampant over their own region," Carter said.

"We will defeat ISIL and it will be good for their futures for them to be on the winning side," he added, using an alternative acronym for the jihadists.

Riyadh has said it would commit ground forces to fight the extremists in Syria, should the US-led coalition ever send in combat troops.

Beyond military contributions, the Pentagon hopes to drum up pledges of logistical support, intelligence sharing and much-needed cash.

So far, the campaign has cost the US $5.8 billion -- about $11.4 million daily -- since it began at the end of summer 2014, according to Pentagon figures.

- New Canadian commitment -

Carter, who has been in the job for a year, has bashed some members of the "so-called" coalition for doing "nothing at all," while America carries out the lion's share of the military campaign.

Pentagon officials say his appeals are bearing some fruit.

Canada, for instance, announced Monday it would triple the number of special forces training Kurdish militia in northern Iraq.

Despite some successes, such as the coalition-assisted takeback of Ramadi by Iraqi security forces, the IS group still holds several important cities like Mosul in Iraq and Raqa in Syria.

Highlighting the complexities inherent in maintaining a 65-member alliance whose members can have divergent national interests, Turkey on Tuesday reportedly summoned the US ambassador after a State Department spokesman angered Ankara by saying Washington did not consider the main Syrian Kurdish party to be a terrorist organisation.

The United States must tread cautiously with Turkey, as it arms and advises Kurdish rebels fighting the IS group in northern Syria.

Carter and President Barack Obama are hearing growing criticism at home over the pace of progress of the campaign and face calls for intervention in Libya, where IS jihadists have doubled in number to about 5,000 in recent weeks.

Last year, they seized control of the city of Sirte and an adjoining length of Mediterranean coastline.

Carter will also discuss the situation in Syria's Aleppo province, where a government assault backed by Russian air support has resulted in tens of thousands of newly displaced people and refugees.

- NATO summit -

Ahead of his anti-IS meeting, Carter will on Wednesday attend a summit of NATO defence ministers that will feed into a general NATO summit in Warsaw in July.

The 28-member alliance is trying to figure out how to adapt to a massively complicated array of potential threats, including future Russian land grabs along the borders of countries in eastern Europe and the Baltic nations.

NATO's posture is "moving from reassurance … to a full deterrence posture in Europe," Carter said.

The Pentagon's proposed budget for next year includes $3.4 billion -- quadruple last year's amount -- for US military operations in Europe. The cash will fund the so-called European Reassurance Initiative.